The head of Little Rock police's Downtown Division, operating out of the 12th Street Substation, said Thursday that his officers saw less violent crime in the area but a rising number of property crimes from April to June, summing up their efforts by saying they're doing "pretty well."
For that three-month period, violent crime had decreased by 7%, even as the number of reported homicides was up 22% and the number of forcible rapes were up 5% compared with the same period in 2021, according to data shared by Maj. Andre Dyer in his second quarterly review of 2022.
That's compared to the first quarter, January to March, when Dyer shared a 41% increase in homicides in his division compared with those three months in 2021.
The upward trend in homicides shown by Dyer's data roughly correlates with the city at large, which as of July 11 had 29% more homicides than that time last year, from 34 to 44 killings, statistics from the city showed. Reports of rape are down 9% in the city for the year.
The increase in rape reports in the division, Dyer said, is because most of the hospitals where many people file rape reports are located in the downtown area, so the hospital's address is listed on the report.
When it comes to homicides, Dyer said his officers' main area of concern is an area roughly between Pine Street and University Avenue east to west and between Interstate 630 and Arkansas 70 north to south.
This area, which Dyer called "notorious" for homicides, had four reported homicides just from April to June, he said.
Despite the uptick in killings in the division, Dyer said their homicide unit does an excellent job.
"It may take us a minute, it may even take us two, but eventually you're gonna be caught," Dyer said.
Dyer said that while the area is frequently patrolled, it seems like homicides seem to crop up just after his officers pass through.
"You can't be everywhere at one time," Dyer said.
The major showed an example of an average patrol schedule for a Thursday and Friday, and said that on average, he has between 12-15 officers on the street during any one shift.
Another slide showed that the division has 117 total sworn officers, including 73 patrol officers, 15 officers assigned to the River Market and 13 sergeants.
That's up from the first quarter, when Dyer said his personnel strength was 115 sworn officers, 68 of them patrol officers.
When City Director Kathy Webb asked about the department's manpower and if Dyer could use more officers, the major said that in his 28 years with the department, staffing has never been where it should be, but he doesn't see that as a hindrance.
"I don't know that, even if we had more people, the job could be done better," Dyer said.
Asked how the upcoming implementation of the department's real-time crime center, spearheaded by Assistant Chief Heath Helton, would improve things for his officers, Dyer said he was most excited about the ability to get more live camera footage to officers so they aren't responding to a call blind.
"It gives us that ability to have eyes in the sky," Dyer said. "I don't think we could have made a better move."
Helton has not yet given details about the installation of new cameras or different use of existing ones in the city, but real-time crime centers in cities such as New Orleans, one of the models for Little Rock's center, use police-owned cameras and also privately owned cameras if the owner gives police access.
When it came to other crimes, Dyer mostly touched on robberies and vehicle thefts.
During the quarter, the number of robberies had decreased by one, but was up 15% for 2022 as of July 11, data showed.
"And there's not a whole lot you can say about that," Dyer said. "It's a crime of opportunity."
Dyer reminded people to use their situational awareness, giving the example of a group of people leaving a club or bar. He encouraged at least one member of the group to stay sober so that they could look out for the others and help them avoid being victimized by robbers looking for easy marks.
The major warned of groups of people, likely teens, going around neighborhoods trying to break into cars. He cautioned people to remove valuables from their cars and lock up, because most of these burglars are lazy and looking for an unlocked door or something obvious to steal.
However, Dyer said people shouldn't try to confront them, because often a person in the group is armed.
"Don't put yourself in harm's way," Dyer said.